Hour of Twilight
by SnowMobile
Summary: When the world is at the edge, it's up to heroes to save it. Question is, will they be able to do it, or will pressure and fear prove to be too insurmountable to overcome.


It's usually the darkest hours, that make people realize, who they really are. Just when things seem to be so dire, when just the hope for success seems to be stupidly foolish, that's when people begin to understand, what they are capable of, for better or for worse.

 **(Alec)**

"Toxicroak is unable to battle, which means Gallade is the winner!"

With a self-righteous smirk I went ahead and grabbed the bucks Toxicroak's trainer held out, mumbling some shit about having had a good fight and whatever people expected me to do. I actually used to be quite humble, still feeling the need to make the other trainer feel better about himself, even though he had been defeated. But these times were long gone. And to be honest, it never made things better nor easier for me. Especially when you fought the kind of guys I did. They wouldn't appreciate it and so you were better off prevailing your street credibility than to help your sense of righteousness. And so I had dropped the habit as soon as I had left the spotlight. Not like you could keep a whole lot of self-respect and dignity, when you were making a living off of drunk posers, who think they are unbeatable. It wasn't even like I had any reason to complain, I got by relatively easy. Sure, sometimes I missed the times, when you could come home, boasting to your parents about what you had achieved. In hindsight it was probably just nice to have a home you could come back to, but I'd suppose that's just life. Sometimes it doesn't work, how you had envisioned. And considering these circumstances, I had no right to complain.

Sighing I got up from the bar I had been sitting at, leaving a few bucks to pay for my drinks, and made my way towards the exit, avoiding any eye-contact, not exactly in the mood to deal with some pissed-off thugs.

As soon as I left the building, I was struck by a gust of fresh air. Or at least what you would call fresh air in downtown Veilstone City. In the background I heard the familiar sound of cars scorching along the freeway, desperate to cover as much distance as possible, before they'd inevitably be stuck in a traffic jam. Veilstone City was one of the largest cities in Sinnoh, among Hearthome and Jubilife and by far the largest one in the east, making her the main junction for any traffic coming from the west. That has always been the case, at least to some extent, but lately it has gotten worse. For a few months now the weather has been acting kind of… funny. Usually you wouldn't be too surprised, Sinnoh being the most northern of regions, but still. For the first time in human weather records, Snowpoint City has been completely free of snow, unusual heat waves cleansing the northernmost point of the region of any ice. And despite enormous efforts to finally keep the swamps around Pastoria City dry, attempting to create a detour for all the traffic coming from Hearthome City, it has all been in vain as heavy rain accompanied by floodings have become a regular in the region.

And so it was Veilstone, having remained largely unaffected, who handled all the traffic. And with the traffic there came business. And so the city grew, desperate to sustain her companies with enough space to accommodate their workers. Which brings us, in return, to where we are now. In her efforts to shelter all people seeking work, she had failed to consider these new circumstances. And so, in only a few months, the local bureaucracy had been outgrown and the city developed her own kind of gravity for crime, basically becoming a cluster of thugs, posers and organized crime with justice hopelessly trying to reconquer the city. Even I had to admit, Veilstone City wasn't the most pleasant of cities to live in. Sure, there were nice places. If you wanted to go shopping, have a nice day and leave in the evening, Veilstone was probably everything you would have asked for. But actually living here, fighting Pokemon battles far from any official event to earn some money was a whole different story.  
Because inevitably you see, what most people wouldn't even realize and most of them weren't necessarily nice sights.

Lost in my thoughts I stumbled along the pavement, making my way towards my residence. Believe it or not, but living in some shitty, cheap hotel wasn't exactly the nicest way to spend your time. So most times I would stay out as late as possible, only coming back to get some rest. Absentmindedly I glanced at my watch, realizing it was just past midnight, usually far too early to go back to that sordid place I called my home. But for whatever reason I didn't feel it today, actually looking forward to get some sleep in. Turning the next corner, I was already able to see my hotel, when I stumbled into someone waiting by the next bus stop. Internally I was sighing, cursing myself for being so thoughtless. Usually you wouldn't expect it to be a big deal, but usually you didn't bump into people around midnight in some fucked up back alley. Especially in Veilstone you'd usually regret irritating people. That's one of the first rules I had actually learned coming back to the city, oftentimes only barely able to submerge in order to avoid trouble. But when I looked up, already uttering my apologies under my breath, I stood there, slightly taken aback.

I knew this person. Or at least had known him.

…

"Paul?"

 **(May)**

To say that I was mildly fucked up, wouldn't really cut it.

I had been home for what, three weeks or some shit and my parents were already starting to get on my nerves. Like so bad, no words would suffice to describe my current level of pissed off.

I had come back for the first time in a little over a year, returning from my latest disaster, namely dropping out of Sinnoh's Grand Festival in only the second round, and the first thing they started doing was pestering me about my oh so poor life choices. The only reason my stay was bearable in any way was my little brother. Arceus I had missed him so much. He was like three years younger than me, which had caused some… let's just say quarrels, when we had started our journey, but deep down I have always loved him. And despite all sinister omens, he has actually been able to shed his omnipresent know-all attitude, which made him all the more likable. But even Max's presence hadn't been enough to let me ignore my parents' constant, disturbed need to pick my life to pieces. It wasn't even like they had any reason to. I could care for myself, my 'career' had gone pretty smoothly thus far, ignoring my latest slip, and my father had his designated successor. What annoyed me the most actually, wasn't even the fact that they were pestering me, no. My main issue was that it was in no way fair towards my brother! For the last seven years since he had been assigned his starter Treecko he had tried everything to get stronger and impress our parents, but no, they had to stay mad that their first-born daughter had left her designated path in becoming her fathers successor! And in doing so, they had basically sacrificed any cohesion our family had once possessed. Now it was pretty much me and my brother and on the other side our parents. Needless to say neither of us actually looked forward to coming back 'home', only returning inevitably during the spare time between seasons. Back in the day our visits used to be longer, still hoping somewhere deep down our parents would accept us one day, but over the time there came the resignation. And so we just didn't care anymore, leaving as soon as possible for a new region or to visit some old friends.

Neither of us actually knew, why we were still here, but my mother had asked us to stay until the end of this week. Allegedly Professor Birch needed to talk to us, but was still out doing some field work, so we had to stay in this broken home and persevere.

I've always had a quite good relationship with the Professor, helping him from time to time with his studies, when I stopped by in Littleroot Town, so I was willing to make this sacrifice for him. Then afterwards I was actually going to visit some friends, planning to swing by in Twinleaf Town first. Dawn and I had become really close friends, actually traveling together for two years, and I missed her too much for it to be bearable much longer. Then we had planned to travel around Sinnoh for a few weeks, stopping in every single major city to go shopping and to savor some well-deserved treats. Just thinking about Sinnoh's specialties made my mouth water. Quite literally, I'd have to admit.

Dawn actually seemed to be super excited as well the last time we talked, promising me to have a surprise for me. And despite my best persuasive attempts, including the threat of using violence, she wouldn't tell me, what she was so excited about. Oh well, I guess you can't really be threatening when you are thousands of miles away and grinning widely. Damn, I would have to work at my game-face. Shortly my mind wandered off, wondering, what my other friends were up to. I hadn't heard from Ash and Brock for quite some while now, which should have left me worried probably, but they were well grown-up and could take care of themselves. Thinking about it, only Drew had gone out of his way to keep in touch, calling in regularly, always asking what I was up to, how I was, hell, even congratulating me on every single win. Admittedly I missed him around, but under no circumstances would I do him the favor and admit that. I would probably never hear the end of it, I thought sighing. I was still caught up in my own thoughts, when my mom called me down.

Immediately my 'pissed-off'-attitude was back, but I did my best to conceal it. One couldn't expect to live together with someone and never have to see their faces. So I dragged myself downstairs, compelling myself to put up a friendly face, when I saw, who was at the door. And on the spot my mood brightened. I did my best to cover my joy, but probably failed miserably. Maybe my remaining time wouldn't be so bad after all.

 **(…)**

Desperately she tried to free herself from her chains, but the more she struggled to break free, the more the handcuffs carved into the soft flesh of her wrists. Internally she fought the screaming voice telling her to accept her fate, but her resolve on the subject only got weaker the more she tried. She hadn't advanced one bit, her whole body was throbbing from the pain she had inflicted to herself and slowly but surely a mind-numbing fear had started to spread throughout her veins, leaving her feeling sick to her stomach. She was about to start another forlorn attempt, when a clicking noise resonating from the metal walls caught her attention. At first she had to focus all her attention to perceive the sound, but the longer she listened, the louder it got. And then, in a sickening moment, she realized the clicking noise was quite probably coming for her. And despite her best efforts she just couldn't keep her cool anymore, neither did she try. She felt sick, actually she felt like vomiting and then waking up from this seriously disturbed nightmare.

Just as she was about to give in to her inner demon, the clicking stopped and suddenly a dark, humanoid figure emerged from the pitch black void at the border of her vision. Every single muscle in her body tensed up and despite her best efforts to keep up a brave face and not show them her fear, she failed miserably, feeling a slight tremble in her jaws taking over control of her entire body.

But nothing seemed to happen, no further advance was made. For a second there was only silence.

Just as she was about to question her own sanity, trying to figure out why exactly the shape would stop moving, the ominous form took a further step out of the twilight, allowing her a good look.

And in that moment, no tranquilizers would have been enough to stop her shaking. She knew the shape standing in front of her.

…

"Hello my darling", it said, its face distorted with a wicked grin, "it's a pleasure to have you."


End file.
